Wyoming News Briefs

Hageman introduces First Amendment Accountability Act

CHEYENNE (WNE) — On the opening day of the 119th Congress, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman introduced her first bill of the new session, the First Amendment Accountability Act, described in a news release as “the next step in her fight against the weaponization of the federal government against the American people.”

This bill would empower Americans to sue federal employees who violate their First Amendment rights, the release said.

Hageman, R-Wyo., said in the release, “As a member of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government in the 118th Congress, I helped uncover the Censorship Industrial Complex, the FBI’s spying on Catholics, the DOJ’s classifying of concerned parents as domestic terrorists, FEMA employees not helping Trump supporters in disaster zones, and much more.

“Current law allows Americans to sue their state officials for violations of their rights, but no equal right exists at the federal level. I developed this bill to further secure the First Amendment against the growing disdain for liberty by Washington.”

Gordon calls court ruling on oil and gas leases a partial victory

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Gov. Mark Gordon called the New Year’s Eve decision by the U.S. District Court of Wyoming in Wyoming v. Haaland “an important partial victory for Wyoming.”

The suit was brought in response to the Bureau of Land Management’s failure to conduct quarterly oil and gas lease sales where eligible lands are available as provided in The Mineral Leasing Act, according to a news release from Gordon’s office. The Biden administration did not hold lease sales for the second and third quarters in 2021 or in the third quarter in 2022.

“The Court clearly found that the BLM’s decision to not have the third quarter lease sale in 2022 arbitrary and capricious,” Gordon said in the release. “Unfortunately, the court did not rule the same way for the BLM’s failure to conduct lease sales in 2021.

“While it is encouraging the court ruled in favor of the State for the BLM’s lack of sales in Q3 2022, it is also baffling this thinking did not carry throughout the order to include 2021.

“Wyoming will examine its options for the upcoming remedy briefing and focus our efforts towards working with the pro-energy administration of President-elect Trump. I am optimistic future federal oil and gas lease sales will be meaningful, contain sufficient acreage, and be consistently held as required,” Gordon added.

Hot Springs State Park’s Star Plunge pending closure

THERMOPOLIS (WNE) — The Star Plunge aquatic facility at Hot Springs State Park had been set to close to the public at the end of 2024 due to the expiration of its current management agreement. Wyoming State Parks has agreed to extend that expiration by two weeks to allow Star Plunge management additional time to work out a potential sale.

“While we face challenges with the Star Plunge, we are excited about the opportunities for revitalization and innovation at Hot Springs State Park,” Nick Neylon, deputy director of Wyoming State Parks, said in a news release.

A recent court ruling requires that current legal proceedings between C& W Enterprises, which currently operates the Star Plunge, and Wyoming State Parks be resolved before a new operator can take over at this location. A sale to a new operator will resolve those legal proceedings.

Following W.S. 36-4110(b) and state park regulations, the agency issued a Request for Proposal in 2023 to construct and manage new or improved lodging and aquatic facilities at Hot Springs State Park. This included potential options for significant redevelopment at the current Star Plunge and Hot Springs Hotel and Spa sites. 

The RFP was open to all interested parties, including current managers. 

Wyoming Hot Springs LLC, the current owner/operator of the TePee Pool aquatic facility, was awarded the bid through this process; however, the project is currently on hold pending the outcome of legal processes with current Star Plunge management.

Man arrested for allegedly refusing to let woman out of car while speeding around town

GILLETTE (WNE) — A 27-year-old man was arrested for felonious restraint, among other things, after refusing to let a woman out of his car while speeding Tuesday night.

Mark Kiser was driving his 2020 Chevrolet at high speeds on Warlow Drive near the intersection of Gurley Avenue, and officers saw a 21-year-old female passenger yelling and waving out the window, Deputy Police Chief Brent Wasson said.

Officers, who recognized Kiser from previous contacts that night and knew he had been drunk, pulled him over. The woman said that she had gotten into an argument while he was driving and asked him to take her home.

Instead, Kiser drove recklessly through the town at speeds estimated up to 100 miles per hour, running red lights and narrowly avoiding crashes while refusing to let her leave, Wasson said.

Kiser refused to perform a field sobriety test, and he was arrested for felonious restraint and also charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. 

Police found a THC vape in his vehicle and also arrested him for possession of a controlled substance.

Precautionary advisory issued for broccoli sold in Walmart stores

CHEYENNE (WNE) — According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Braga Fresh is issuing a precautionary advisory about washed and ready-to-eat Marketside Broccoli Florets. The product has a best-if-used-by date of Dec. 10, 2024.

The product was distributed to select stores in Wyoming. It is past its best-if-used-by date and is no longer in stores. 

However, if consumers have frozen the item for later use, they should discard it, according to a news release from Cheyenne Laramie County Public Health.

This advisory is due to listeria contamination. 

Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, immunocompromised or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. 

Healthy individuals may only experience short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. 

Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

The voluntary advisory does not apply to any other Marketside or Braga Fresh produced products.

What to look for:

• Product: 12-ounce bags of Marketside Broccoli Florets sold at Walmart stores

• UPC code: 6 81131 32884 5 on back of bag

• Best-if-used-by date: Dec. 10, 2024

• Lot Code: BFFG327A6 on front of bag

Bill would reduce severance tax rate on coal to 6%

GILLETTE (WNE) — Two years after the Wyoming Legislature knocked 0.5% off of the severance tax on coal, lawmakers are trying to lower it again.

House Bill 75 proposes lowering the severance tax rate on surface coal production to 6%. It currently is 6.5%, thanks to a bill that passed in 2022 that lowered it from 7%.

If the bill passes, it would bring coal production’s severance tax in line with oil and gas, which has a severance tax of 6%. In 2022, then-rep. Tim Hallinan, R-Campbell County, said that the 1% gap cost the coal industry an extra $250 million over the past 10 years.

“For me it’s just an equity issue,” said Sen. Eric Barlow, one of the cosponsors of the bill, along with local representatives Ken Clouston, Abby Angelos, John Bear and Chris Knapp and Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower. “If we care about our industries, fossil fuels, oil, coal, gas, they ought to be treated, for tax purposes, equitably.”

If the bill passes, it would take effect July 1, 2025, and it would affect severance tax distributions beginning in fiscal year 2026-2027.

It’s estimated that this would be a hit of $3.2 million to the state’s general fund in fiscal year 2026, $2.9 million in FY27 and $2.6 million in FY28, as well as a decrease to the state’s budget reserve account of $6.4 million in FY26, $5.8 million in FY27 and $5.2 million in FY28.

The estimates are based on the severance taxes on surface coal projected in the October 2024 Consensus Revenue Estimating Group forecast.

Joint resolution calls for convention of states to amend Constitution

GILLETTE (WNE) — Once again, Wyoming lawmakers will try to pass a resolution calling for a convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution.

Senate Joint Resolution 1, sponsored by Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, and cosponsored by several other legislators, including Rep. Ken Clouston, R-Gillette, and Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, calls for a convention of states to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government and limit the terms of office for federal officials and members of Congress.

Article V of the U.S. Constitution gives states the power to call a convention to propose amendments. It takes 34 states to call the convention, and it takes 38 to ratify any amendments that are proposed.

Every amendment to the Constitution has come from Congress. A convention of states would be uncharted territory.

“It’s never happened,” Barlow said. “No one knows how it will be held because we don’t have the template.”

Barlow said this is something that people have been asking about ever since he first got into the legislature years ago.

Nineteen states have passed resolutions calling for a convention of states, he said, and the language in the joint resolution that is being proposed is from a national group that has been working on this since 2013.

It has been proposed to the legislature for the past few years but has not come close to passing.

In 2024, the House did not consider it for introduction, while it failed introduction in the Senate, 17-14. In 2023, it passed the Senate 17-13, but it failed in the House, 21-41. In 2022, it failed introduction in the House, 21-37. In 2021, the House did not consider it for introduction, while it failed in the Senate, 14-16. In 2020, it failed in the Senate, 10-20.